Human subsistence strategy of the Jiangxi’an site in Chongzuo, Guangxi
Received date: 2023-10-25
Revised date: 2024-01-09
Online published: 2024-06-04
Extreme climate events and the transformation of early human economic patterns have been a hot topic in the field of global change. However, there is a lack of research on the impact of 9200 BP climate events on prehistoric human behavior. Guangxi is one of the important regions in the Pearl River basin. It has a unique geographical landscape pattern and unique vegetation and climate background. It is not only a key area for prehistoric migration and cultural exchange, but also an ideal refuge for dealing with climate change and events. It is a rare experimental field for studying human survival patterns and environmental adaptation. Due to factors such as humid and hot climate and acidic soil in Guangxi region, the preservation of organic matter remains is poor. And the morphological characteristics of phytoliths are significant, with important characteristics such as corrosion resistance and easy preservation. Phytolith analysis has become an important and effective research method for obtaining plant relic information in acidic soil environments in southern China. In addition, pollen analysis can provide important information for reconstructing the environmental background of archaeological sites and has an irreplaceable role. In this paper, based on AMS 14C chronology, phytolith and pollen records, we analyzed the climatic background and economic model of the Neolithic culture at Jiangxi’an site of Chongzuo, Guangxi. Our results show that the Neolithic age of Jiangxi’an site in Guangxi is 9300-9100 BP, and the surrounding environment of the site showed an obvious trend of cooling and drying during the 9200 BP climate event. At that stage of time, plant resources available to humans were reduced, while a large number of snail and mussel shells, and the remains of aquatic animals and mammals such as buffalo, rhinoceros and elephants were found. Rich fishing and hunting tools were found in the strata as well. These results suggested that during the cold and dry period of 9200 BP fishing and hunting might be a better choice for human beings resided on Jiangxi’an site in Guangxi, based on the decrease in the number of collected plant remains. This ecological environment may have prompted foragers to change their adaptation models, reduce their dependence on collection and hunting, and shift towards fishing and hunting. The changes in survival strategies of the early Neolithic population may be closely related to environmental adaptation and changes in activity range. This study provides new ideas and clues for a deeper understanding of the interaction between important climate events in the early Holocene of the Asian monsoon region and cultural development in the Neolithic period.
Key words: climate event; Guangxi; phytolith analysis; pollen analysis; human life style
WU Yan , XIE Guangmao , ZHAO Keliang , MENG Zhangwang , CHEN Guanhan , WANG Jingyi , LIN Qiang . Human subsistence strategy of the Jiangxi’an site in Chongzuo, Guangxi[J]. Acta Anthropologica Sinica, 2024 , 43(03) : 380 -391 . DOI: 10.16359/j.1000-3193/AAS.2024.0035
[1] | Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group I. Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis[M]. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014, 1-1535 |
[2] | Bond G, Kromer B, Beer J, et al. Solar Influence on North Atlantic Climate During the Holocene[J]. Science, 2001, 294(5549): 2130-2136 |
[3] | Huang C, Pang J, Han Y, et al. A regional aridity phase and its possible cultural impact during the Holocene Megathermal in the Guanzhong Basin, China[J]. Holocene, 2000, 10(1): 135-142 |
[4] | Zhang WC, Yan H, Dodson J, et al. The 9.2 ka event in Asian summer monsoon area: the strongest millennial scale collapse of the monsoon during the Holocene[J]. Climate Dynamics, 2018, 50: 2767-2782 |
[5] | Elliot VM, Hans V, Jeroen V, et al. Population collapse or human resilience in response to the 9.3 and 8.2 ka cooling events: A multi-proxy analysis of Mesolithic occupation in the Scheldt basin (Belgium)[J]. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2021, 64: 101348 |
[6] | Liu Y, Hu C. Quantification of southwest China rainfall during the 8.2 ka BP event with response to North Atlantic cooling[J]. Climate of the Past, 2016, 12(7): 1583-1590 |
[7] | Bar-Yosef O. The Natufian culture in the Levant, threshold to the origins of agriculture[J]. Evolutionary Anthropology, 1998, 6: 159-177 |
[8] | Cohen DJ. The Beginnings of Agriculture in China: A Multiregional View[J]. Current Anthropology, 2011, 52: S273-S293 |
[9] | 梁七丹, 吴江滢, 赵笑笑, 等. 亚洲夏季风9.2 ka事件的湖北落水洞高分辨率石笋记录[J]. 第四纪研究, 2020, 40(4): 945-958 |
[10] | Diamond J, Bellwood P. Farmers and their languages: the first expansions[J]. Science, 2003, 300(5619): 597-603 |
[11] | Chi Z, Hung H. Later hunter-gatherers in southern China, 18 000-3000 BC[J]. Antiquity, 2012, 86(331): 11-29 |
[12] | 赵志军. 广西桂林甑皮岩遗址植物遗存分析报告.植物考古学—理论、方法和实践[M]. 北京: 科学出版社, 2010, 1-243 |
[13] | Wu Y, Xie G, Mao L, et al. Phytolith evidence for human-plant subsistence in Yahuai Cave (Guangxi, South China) over the past 30000 years[J]. Science China Earth Sciences, 2020, 63: 1745-1757 |
[14] | 王凯, 马玉贞, 李丹丹, 等. 全新世中国典型地区孢粉记录的生态环境与新石器文化关系[J]. 生态学杂志, 2020, 39(8): 2467-2477 |
[15] | 黄明, 马春梅, 何锟宇, 等. 成都平原宝墩遗址中晚全新世孢粉记录的环境变迁及人类活动[J]. 第四纪研究, 2022, 42(4): 1078-1093 |
[16] | 吴伟峰, 黄启善. 广西博物馆文集(第4辑)[C]. 南宁: 广西人民出版社, 2008, 1-430 |
[17] | 广西文物保护与考古研究所. 广西基本建设考古重要发现[M]. 南宁: 广西科学技术出版社, 2015, 1-235 |
[18] | Ramsey CB. Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates[J]. Radiocarbon, 2009, 51(1): 337-360 |
[19] | Piperno DR. Phytolyth Analysis: An Archaeological and Geological Perspective[M]. San Diego: Academic press, 1988, 1-280 |
[20] | International Committee for Phytolith Taxonomy. International Code for Phytolith Nomenclature (ICPN) 2.0[J]. Annals of Botany, 2019, 124: 189-199 |
[21] | Grimm EC. Tilia and Tilia graph: Springfield[J]. Software available from Illinois State Museum, 1991 |
[22] | Faegri K, Iversen J. Textbook of Pollen Analysis(3rd)[M]. Oxford: Blackwell, 1989, 295 |
[23] | Reimer P, Austin W, Bard E, et al. The IntCal20 Northern Hemisphere radiocarbon age calibration curve (0-55 cal kBP)[J]. Radiocarbon, 2020, 62(4): 725-757 |
[24] | 王永吉, 吕厚远. 植物硅酸体研究及应用[M]. 北京: 海洋出版社, 1992, 1-228 |
[25] | Zheng Z, Chen C, Huang KY, et al. Holocene warming and evergreen/deciduous forest replacement across eastern China[J]. Quaternary Science Reviews, 2023, 307: 1-17 |
[26] | Dean JR. Stable isotope analysis and U-Th dating of late glacial and Holocene lacustrine sediments from central Turkey[D]. Nottingham: University of Nottingham, 2014, 1-261 |
[27] | Marino G, Rohling EJ, Sangiorgi F, et al. Early and middle Holocene in the Aegean Sea: interplay between high and low latitude climate variability[J]. Quaternary Science Reviews, 2009, 28(27-28): 3246-3262 |
[28] | Fleitmann D, Mudelsee M, Burns SJ, et al. Evidence for a widespread climatic anomaly at around 9.2 ka before present[J]. Paleoceanography, 2008, 23(1): PA1102 |
[29] | Dong J, Shen CC, Kong X, et al. Reconciliation of hydroclimate sequences from the Chinese Loess Plateau and low-latitude East Asian Summer Monsoon regions over the past 14,500 years[J]. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2015, 435: 127-135 |
[30] | Dykoski C, Edwards R, Cheng H, et al. A high-resolution, absolute-dated Holocene and deglacial Asian monsoon record from Dongge Cave, China[J]. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2005, 233(1-2): 71-86 |
[31] | Zhang W, Yan H, Cheng P, et al. Peatland development and climate changes in the Dajiuhu basin, central China, over the last 14, 100 years[J]. Quaternary International, 2016, 425: 273-281 |
[32] | Albert RM, Bamford MK, Cabanes D. Palaeoecological sig nificance of palms at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, based on phytolith re mains[J]. Quaternary International, 2009, 193: 41-48 |
[33] | 张烨昆, 黄胜敏, 覃芳, 等. 广西邕江流域早全新世贝丘遗址的生业形态和定居模式分析:来自植物遗存的综合证据[J]. 第四纪研究, 2021, 41(5): 1408-1424 |
[34] | Zhang YK, Huang SM, Chen WJ, et al. Early Holocene phytolith records for three shell midden sites, Yongjiang River, Guangxi Province, China[J]. The Holocene, 2021, 31(1): 95-107 |
[35] | 刘晓迪, 胡耀武. 华南地区新石器早中期动物骨中羟磷灰石的污染鉴别及机制:以广西桂林甑皮岩遗址为例[J]. 第四纪研究, 2021, 41(1): 189-200 |
[36] | 张龙. 广西南宁市豹子头贝丘遗址的发掘[J]. 考古, 2003, 10: 22-34 |
/
〈 | 〉 |